Getting stuck is not in my repertoire. Over the past four winters, I have tested four different 4WD vehicles through the coldest winter months, and none have gotten stuck accessing my old wooden cottage at the end of an unplowed lane on the edge of a tranquil Ontario lake.

This year was going to be no different. In fact, this year was going to be a cakewalk because I borrowed the refreshed 2014 Toyota 4Runner from Toyota Canada for eight weeks as part of long-term winter worthiness test. I already knew this truck was tough because I tested one of the first, fifth-gen SR5 4Runners back in 2010; but this year would see me drive the more luxurious Limited model, which comes with a full-time 4WD system and lockable, Torsen center-differential instead of a transfer case and part-time 4WD.

Perhaps for the same reason the Ford tractor pulling me out almost got stuck — why my Grizzly ATV almost got stuck, why my neighbour’s Ford F-150 got very stuck, and why my temporary garage over my boat collapsed into one big heap of snow and plastic and metal bars. Thirty centimetres of snow and ice pellets, finished off with seven centimetres of freezing rain, created more force and weight from mother nature than we’ve seen in 20 years. It was, you might say, a mini winter apocalypse. The only thing missing was the zombies.

In reality, I almost didn’t get stuck at all, and perhaps for these extreme conditions should have used chains over the 20-inch Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 winter tires we have installed. Pushing through the icy snow and thick ice, I felt like Canada’s Louis S. St-Laurent ice breaker in the Beaufort Sea, so steady seemed this new 4Runner, the 270-horsepower 4.0-litre V6 humming away, the heated leather seats keeping everything warm inside. I was the captain and this was my ship.

With the differential locked in 4-High, splitting the torque 50/50 to the front and rear wheels, the truck was making good progress down my 1.6-kilometre lane, but the layer of ice atop the snow was constantly tugging at the 4Runner, jarring it left and right, making it difficult to keep straight on the narrow road. And despite making it halfway down the lane, the ice eventually forced the driver’s side front tire into a trench. Still able to move back and forth, I wasn’t “technically” stuck, but I couldn’t get the left tires out of the trench, nor did I want to scratch the new Attitude Black metallic paint of this $47,000 SUV against the ice-coated branches. So I relented to the help from my neighbour’s chain-equipped tractor to get me straight again.

Even in the 2014 Toyota 4Runner Limited, going slow can be smartest way to go.Derek McNaughton /
Postmedia News

How quickly the 4Runner redeemed itself though: With my neighbour’s F-150 pickup truck stuck in a trench in the same way as I was, it had to be pulled out too. After clearing some snow from the road, a recovery strap was hooked between the 4Runner and F-150, and it popped out easier than a loose tooth. The 4Runner didn’t even slip a wheel in the process of hauling it out.

It’s been like that on every other snowy and icy road I’ve travelled so far since. Indeed, on the 150-kilometres of icy roads to the cottage, I had no issues at all. I suspect, over the next eight weekly reports, the drama will be much less, (but maybe not considering the nastiness of this winter). Getting stuck, then, probably had more to do with my own haste than the fault of this truck. In fact, finding fault with the 4Runner Limited, will — I admit — be tough over the next two months since I’ve been impressed with this fifth-generation since it debuted in 2009 as a 2010 model, and it was the truck I drove for a long term test that year. Yes, a V8 engine option was dropped back then, but the V6 and five-speed automatic transmission do a remarkable job of balancing fuel economy and power. That powertrain remains unchanged for 2014. And, yes, even the updated truck is missing features I would like.

But the 2014 version brings an improved interior with attractive lighting and new gauge cluster. Projector headlamps, LED tail-lamps and new front-end treatments for the Trail and SR5 join another new front end for the top-of-the-line Limited, which gets a big, chrome moustache. Both the Limited and SR5 can be configurable with three rows of seats, but make no mistake: the 4Runner is not a direct replacement for the family minivan.

No, part of the appeal of the 4Runner, of course, is that it remains one of the last of its breed, one of the last SUVs to not sell its soul and become a Mall Runner based on a unibody platform. The 4Runner remains a body-on-frame SUV, which gives it a stout, truck-like ride, not to mention the kind of durability and off-road capability that should keep me from getting stuck ever again this winter.